


I am your thoughts

by Myrte46



Series: Assassin's Creed one-shots [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Assassin's Creed: Rogue, Bi Haytham Kenway, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mental Link, One Shot, POV Alternating, Romantic Friendship, Slow Burn, bi Shay Cormac, they can hear each other's thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 19:16:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21202697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrte46/pseuds/Myrte46
Summary: Follow Haytham and Shay through the years as they deal with being in each other's head.





	I am your thoughts

Haytham was 6 when he started hearing this grabble of noise in his head. He brought it up with his father over dinner.

"Father, why am I hearing a voice in my head?" Haytham kicked his legs under the table so he could look like a properly raised boy above the table.

Edward smiled. "That would be your soulmate. You remember I told you about the bond me and your mother have, where we can talk to each other without speaking?"

Haytham nodded as he took another bite of his food. "I'm hearing my soulmate?" He tilted his head. "They're not very intelligent."

Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, but otherwise didn’t comment.

"When did you start hearing this voice?" Edward chuckled.

"It started today, during the priest's talk. It is just a grabble of words, not really intelligent."

"That must be because they've just been born.”

The look on Haytham's face made Edward go into a long explanation about what exactly being born means, accompanied by more rolls of Jenny's eyes.

\---

Haytham was a day shy of turning 10 when his father's house burned down and he was left all alone. Well, not all alone. He had the young boy in his head, Shay, who talked about nothing but his friend Liam and the mischief both boys got up to. It was a soothing presence to talk about being a little boy running around and causing trouble to everyone they encountered, while Haytham himself was forced to grow up very fast in an attempt to deal with his father's death and his sister's kidnapping, on top of the extra training given to him by his father's friend Master Birch. (Not mister, he’d been very insistent on it being Master)

\---

Shay knew all about Haytham's allegiance to the Templar Order, but when Liam introduced him to Achilles Davenport, and the so-called Assassins he couldn't help but agree to join them. It would help him out of the drunken, bar fighting way of life and he might as well fight since that’s what he’s already good at.

Haytham, later that night, told Shay he was an idiot.

Shay agreed.

\---

Shay was angry. It was often Shay was angry, mostly at trivial things such as not being able to perfect his attacks or not being able to sneak around perfectly during Hope's lessons, but this was another kind of angry. "Chevalier is being a lobcock again," Shay cursed to Haytham.

Haytham's reply was a soft chuckle. "What did he do this time?" he thought.

"He's angry for us showing up late to the meeting he was supposed to have with smugglers, so I had a fight with him," Shay explained. "Now I'm very busy taking out some British soldiers who've overtaken the smugglers camp. Honestly, it's just a lot of sneaking around. Why are you awake, anyway, it's the middle of the day here, so it's late there for you."

"I'm on a stakeout," Haytham replied shortly. "It's boring, and your company is much more amusing than just my own thoughts."

Shay's reply was a disinterested hum as he took out another Brit. "Technically, I am your thoughts."

Haytham refrained from chuckling out loud at that, but Shay could hear the other's amusement. "That could be considered true, but you also have thoughts outside of me."

Shay took out another soldier. "Do you think they'll be mad when I take their ship?" he asked. "It's not like they'll be needing it anymore."

"I don't see why not. You enjoy sailing, after all," Haytham replied.

"You're right, I now have a ship. The Morrigan. A beautiful thing, really. Not as big as those Men of War, but certainly well enough to take out some smaller ships and just the perfect size to sail the rivers here, while also being fit for open sea," Shay said, the glee clear in his voice. "I want to fight Chevalier again… if you wait a moment."

Haytham just smiled.

\---

"Haytham, what do you know about Laurence Washington?" Shay asked about a week later, opening the crate and taking out a gun with fascination, eliminating a nearby guard silently.

"All I know is that he's a Templar in the Colonies. Why?" Haytham asked.

"I am about to kill him," Shay put the silent gun on his back before jumping off the ship.

“Make his death a quick one."

"I will."

\---

It was a few months later when Haytham came to Shay with some very exciting news. "I'm coming to the New World."

"Did Birch confirm your suspicion?" Shay asked, the excitement clear in his voice.

"Yes, the artifact I recovered was indeed from the Americas. I am heading to Boston soon."

"I hope we can meet," Shay said. "But I am busy tracking down the manuscript. I'm so close, Haytham. It should be any day now that we get news of Wardrop's location and then we can figure out its secrets."

"I should not condone the murder of a Templar, but I am happy to hear that."

"Liam would never forgive me if I let Wardrop live," Shay sounded like he was already regretting having to kill the man.

"It's your duty, Shay.”

Shay huffed in response. “He’s only a target because he has the box, otherwise he’d be innocent.”

\---

"Are the Colonial cities always this dirty?" Haytham asked, after having whined to Shay for about two months of how bored he was aboard the ship he used to travel to the New World.

Shay laughed out loud, which earned him a concerned look from Liam. "I haven't been to Boston before."

Haytham didn't sound too pleased with that answer. "Maybe you should come and check it out.”

"Are you asking me on a date, Haytham?" Shay ignored the concerned look Liam gave him for the inexplainable smile on his face.

"Yes, how long will it take for you to get over here?"

"Two days with a proper horse. I am in a boring place, following a lead that Liam can figure out himself. I could be back in time for the ending."

"I suggest getting yourself a proper horse. You can find me in the Green Dragon Tavern."

"I'll be there shortly," Shay promised and got up from the game of cards he was playing with Liam. "I am going to Boston.”

"What on earth is in Boston?" Liam picked up the cards, knowing Shay would never be prompted in finishing this game of cards.

"Someone I've been wanting to meet for a long time.” Shay walked to the door, not wanting to leave Liam without a proper explanation.

Liam nodded. "You're lucky to have a voice in your head," he told Shay. "Go meet this lady of yours, I can hold the fort and not let Achilles know."

Shay smiled. "Thank you, Liam." He bounced to his room to start packing.

\---

Two days later Shay walked into the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston. He found himself a spot at the bar and ordered an ale, looking around the room with little hope of seeing Haytham. He'd been informed that Haytham was busy with getting another Templar for the group he was assembling.

He was glad he left his Assassin’s robes on the Morrigan. Anyone who knew what Assassin’s robes looked like would identify him the moment they spotted him. He was, of course, still wearing his hidden blades and various swords, knives, and guns, but now he was just a heavily armed man, easily mistaken for a frontiersman.

"I've found the man I'm looking for, shouldn't be more than an hour now," Haytham assured Shay.

Shay smiled as he drowned about half of his ale. "Do try to hurry, I can't sit at this bar forever without getting drunk, and I do want to meet you sober."

Haytham chuckled softly. "It's not like I haven't heard you drunk before."

"I was young, Haytham. Those days are behind me," Shay replied as he played with the handle of his mug.

"Young and quite foolish," Haytham pointed out.

"Really?" Shay replied and smiled softly.

"Only a foolish man who knows he'll fall in love with another man can think about a woman the way you do."

"You were not meant to hear those thoughts," Shay replied. "You were supposed to be asleep for hours at that point!"

"Yes well you can be very loud, and I didn't feel like replying," Haytham replied before he grew strangely quiet.

Shay had learned to recognize when Haytham was focusing on something he couldn't be distracted from and just stayed quiet while it happened, taking sips from his ale while he waited.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard the door to the Tavern open and turned around to look at who entered.

There were three men. One of whom had a strange injury at his nose, the other spot a mustache, and the third had clothes that said he was wealthy but didn't flaunt his money.

The one with money looked over at the bar as soon as he walked inside. "Charles," he told the man with the mustache. "Get Church's nose treated."

The man, Charles Lee according to Haytham, nodded and took the other man upstairs, asking for the lady of the house to come to look at the injury.

Shay had little doubt that the man who sent Lee away was Haytham. The accent made it clear enough, but the way he knew to look at the bar as soon as he walked inside gave it away completely. "I may hope you are the man I came here to see?" he asked Haytham, verbally.

Haytham held out his hand for Shay to shake. "Yes, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Shay.”

Shay gladly shook the other's hand. "Shall we take a walk? I'll be staying for a few days and I have no intention of spending them inside."

Haytham smiled. "Gladly," he said, mentally adding, "less listening ears as well."

Shay nodded in agreement as he paid for his drink and walked out the door with Haytham, unable to get a smile off his face. "What do we talk about, now we're in the same place?"

"The weather?" Haytham asked sarcastically, but he was smiling as well.

"I didn't expect you to be wearing so many layers, let alone a cape," Shay said as he walked next to Haytham, down some random streets.

"I expected you to be wearing Assassin's robes," Haytham pointed out.

"I was walking into a Templar’s Den and I have no death wish. One of your Templars would've certainly taken me as a prisoner, if not murdered me the moment I walked inside.” Shay pointed to Haytham almost accusingly, but they both knew there was no harm behind it.

"You couldn't let anyone know you're meeting a Templar,” Haytham said.

Shay hummed in agreement and stayed quiet for a moment before pointing at a church's tower. "I want to see you climb in these fancy clothes of yours, to the top of that tower."

"If you want to," Haytham said and immediately took off, sprinting to the tower with Shay on his heels.

It didn't take long for them to reach the top of the tower, with Haytham as the winner. He climbed over the railing, onto the platform at the top of the tower.

"How?" Shay wasn't panting hard from the short climb, but clearly his skills weren’t enough to beat Haytham's. Besides, Haytham probably climbed the tower before.

"These clothes are flexible enough to fight in if I so choose." Haytham put his hands on the railing as he looked out over the city.

Shay joined him, standing closer than two strangers should. "I didn't expect less from a trained fighter."

"Of course not. Now that we're in privacy I can show you the precursor... Key, so to speak." Haytham pulled a necklace from under his clothes and over his head. He showed the pendant to Shay.

Shay examined the precursor artifact with great interest. "This is what you got from Miko?" He took the circle-shaped object curiously, studying it from all sides and putting it to the light to make sure there were no hidden messages. "Have you found out where the markings are from?"

"We believe with a native tribe not far from here, but I have to gather my Templars before I can launch any kind of search operation to the artifact," Haytham explained.

"Such a thing wouldn't surprise me." Shay handed the pendant back to Haytham.

Haytham put it back under his clothes and sighed. "You're right. Natives are known to build their religion off these precursor sights."

Shay smiled and pulled Haytham in a hug. "Not so sour. I'm sure you'll find your treasure, just as I'll find mine."

Haytham smiled and hugged Shay as well, not feeling any need to hide his feelings for a man he'd known for longer than everyone else. "I hope so. Birch's task didn't come cheap, and I fear what will happen if I fail."

"You'll find another way. You always do," Shay promised. "And if it leads nowhere, you can always focus on building up your Templars."

"You shouldn't condone such actions," Haytham scolded and pulled away from the hug far enough to look at Shay, their faces mere inches from each other.

"I've been your friend longer than I've been your enemy."

Haytham scoffed. "That doesn't excuse my actions."

Shay grabbed Haytham’s hat with a grin to get back at him from climbing faster than him. "Don't be so down about it." He put the hat on his own head. "Why do you wear a hat? It only hinders you during fighting and climbing."

"You wear a hood, Shay." Haytham tried to snatch his hat back. "And that beard if yours is hardly proper."

Shay moved away from Haytham’s grasp with a chuckle. "I prefer not wearing a hood, and I use it not to get recognized, you can't be more obvious with this contraption."

"Thank you for the lecture. Can I have my hat back?"

"No, come get it!" Shay stood on the ledge, jumping down in a haystack at the bottom of the church in a practiced movement.

Haytham auditable sighed, even when Shay was very busy falling. "Alright then, Shay. If you want to be an immature brat.”

Shay got out of the haystack and immediately sprinted off down some side streets. He didn't need to know the city to know which direction he was going, and he wanted to reach the tavern before Haytham did.

Shay heard the dull sound of Haytham hitting the haystack behind him as he sprinted down the streets, climbing on top of a building soon enough.

"I'm going to get you, Shay, and when I do, you're going to regret taking my hat."

Shay just laughed in response. "Oh yeah? You're going to have to catch me first, old man!"

"I am only 6 years older than you!" Haytham bristled.

"I'm not getting any younger waiting for you to catch up to me.”

"Oh, you cheeky Assassin."

"Don't be like that, my dearest Templar." Shay jumped to a next roof only to hear a guard coming up ahead of him, cursing softly as he slid off the roof and rolled over on the ground, making sure that damned hat stayed on before continuing his sprint.

He was attacked from above not a moment later, pinned down to the wall with a triumphant Haytham pinning him down. Haytham snatched his hat back and put it on. "Sloppy.”

"I was busy trying not to die." Shay struggled to get out of Haytham's grasp, but was unsuccessful. "Can you let me go now?"

It merely earned him a chuckle from Haytham. "I'm having far too much fun watching you squirm."

"I'm going to hunt my blade through your leg if you don't.”

"We both know you won't." Haytham was quick to pin Shay's hands above his head.

Shay continued to squirm to try and get out. He couldn't use his legs while squeezed against Haytham like this either. "Please let me go?"

"The brave Assassin begs for his life?" Haytham teased, leaning in closer to Shay with a teasing smirk on his lips.

Shay scoffed. "I don't beg."

Before Shay could lean in and kiss Haytham, Haytham's loyal lapdog Charles somehow found them, even though they were well-hidden between two houses. "Sir!" He walked up to the two of them, scraping his throat unsurely when he noticed that Haytham had Shay pinned against the wall. "Am I... Interrupting an interrogation?"

Haytham shook his head as he stepped back and let Shay go. "No, Charles, merely a meeting between old friends. Why did you come to find me?"

Shay brushed the imaginary dirt off of his clothes while trying to control his irrationally fast breath. He didn't expect Charles to give a straightforward answer since Shay was what he perceived a stanger, and Haytham had told him Charles was no dumb man.

"Hickey has some disturbing news, sir! You must return with me at once so he can tell you." Charles waved Haytham in the direction of the Tavern.

Haytham nodded. "Of course, lead the way, Charles."

"I shall explore the city on my own." Shay waved Haytham off.

Haytham replied through their mental link. "I swear if it's about another one of Hickey's fuckups I'm going to strangle that bastard. I've been here for two days and he's managed to get arrested three times."

Shay laughed as he walked down the street. "You wouldn't happen to condone me following you?"

"Not at all, this is Order business, and you are not part of the Order."

"I'm your greatest enemy!" Shay laughed as he headed in a different direction.

“Sadly,” Haytham said.

\---

Not half an hour later, just when Shay found a tavern of his own to spend the night in and installed himself in a room, Haytham came with some disturbing news.

"So apparently someone heard about your arrival, and that you are an Assassin.” Haytham’s words were radiating with worry.

"What happened?" Shay got up and checked if the doors were locked and if his weapons were where they were supposed to be, not wanting to risk it, even if Haytham had a solid hand in what he allowed his Templars to do.

"Hickey said there were rumors about an Assassin coming into town to check out our business, matching your description." Shay could imagine Haytham as he paced back and forth.

Shay cursed softly to himself. "This isn't even a planned mission. I'm not even supposed to be here! Did you ask Hickey who he got the information from?"

"He said it was just a bribe," Haytham replied. "Nobody interesting."

"I don't want to leave yet. We've barely spent one afternoon together!" Shay replied in frustration. "And obviously you can't just tell them: oh yes my soulmate is the person you're looking for, I've asked this highly trained Assassin to come here to spend time with me, the Grand Master of the Colonial Templars."

"As amusing as the aftermath would be, no I can't."

They both stayed quiet as they thought about the next steps they could take.

Haytham cursed loudly, depriving Shay of his own thoughts for a moment while he did so.

"What was that?"

"Charles is too smart for his own good. He figured out the man he saw with me is the same man as the description and now he's asking questions."

\---

Charles informed master Kenway of recent Assassin activity in the city, but there was some nagging at the back of his head. The description Hickey gave them: 'build like a street fighter, with black hair to his chin and a hint of a beard'. It sounded like the man Master Kenway was... Talking to. They didn't say anything to each other the entire time, and Master Kenway had the man pinned against the wall. He didn't know what was going on there, but it couldn't be any good.

He had to ask, just to make sure the Grand Master knew what he was doing.

He knocked on the door to the Grand Master's room, nervously shifting on his other leg as he waited for the door to open.

Master Kenway opened the door after only a moment, looking a little stressed out for no clear reason. "Charles, how can I help you?" His voice betrayed a kind of calmness that he clearly didn’t feel, from the worrying look Master Kenway shot Charles.

Charles immediately felt like a little boy who asked to come into his father's study. "I uh... wanted to ask you some questions, sir.” He tried not to let his nerves show and stumble over his words, as that would only make this moment more embarrassing.

"Come on inside," Master Kenway said and opened the door further so Charles could enter.

Charles knew what the layout of the room was since his own room looked just like it. Bed in one corner of the room, one table and one chair in another. Yet Master Kenway clearly made it his own room: the desk was full of letters, and there was a bag in the corner with the Grand Master's clothes. A few books lined the nightstand, just as a half-used candle, currently unlit.

"What do you want to ask me?" Master Kenway sat down in the chair, facing Charles while keeping a straight posture. His face finally resembled the mask the Grand Master usually put in place as not to let his true emotions show.

Charles scraped his throat. "I couldn't help but notice the man you were meeting this afternoon looked like the Assassin Hickey described."

Master Kenway tensed up in a way that told Charles enough, even if the words were denying. "He is not the man we're looking for.” He said it too fast to have considered it properly, as if he needed to hide the man's identity.

"May I inquire, sir, who was that man? You two seemed to know each other well, but I do not have any mention of a Templar in the colonies you were already familiar with prior to coming here.” Charles shifted on his other leg, too tense to sit down on the bed or feel comfortable while in the presence of the Grand Master.

"Charles, enough. Who that man is, is none of your business. Return to your duties.” Master Kenway glared at Charles, trying to drill holes in Charles’s mind and make him forget what he asked.

Charles nodded his head and hastily retreated out of the room. "I'm sorry sir, please forgive me for my prying.” He closed the door, not wanting to hear the Grand Master's reply, but heard him curse anyways.

Charles knew that man the Grand Master met was more important to him than the Order, more important by a long shot. He actively tried to hide that that man was the Assassin they were looking for.

Charles didn’t know who the man was, but if he was important to Master Kenway, Charles wouldn’t let any harm come to him, even if he was an Assassin.

\---

Shay didn't expect to receive a message from Achilles, but his heart sank in his shoes when he saw the familiar scribble of Achilles’s handwriting. That man had an annoying habit of making his life a living hell, and any scrap of pleasure he sought was used against him, this was no exception.

'Shay,

Liam told me you were in Boston. Get a report on Templar activities while you're defying orders. Punishment will follow when you return, it will be worse if you don't have anything of substance to show for your disobedience. Take as long as you see fit.

Achilles Davenport'

Once Shay informed Haytham of this annoying development, they decided to meet under the guise of darkness to figure out a way to make their problems into solutions.

They met on top of the church, making sure they were not being followed. They didn't want to make a dire situation worse by tipping off any Templars or Assassins that they were meeting.

Shay sat on the ground while Haytham paced back and forth in the small space the tower had to offer.

"I'm here to collect information about you, and you're here to find me.” Shay wanted them on the same line, because they’d made this mistake in the past and didn’t talk to each other for a week. That had easily been the worst week of Shay’s life. And Shay had woken up in jail multiple times for fights with authority while drunk out of his mind.

"I can't let you leave with anything of value, nor can you leave without anything.”

Shay sighed. "I don't even want to leave. I asked for a few days, and Liam told me I could get out here for a week. That's three days I got to spend with you.”

This was the first time they had the chance to meet. Shay hadn't been able to make a trip across the ocean, and Haytham had been too busy with his training and his duties within the Templar Order.

"You have to leave because one of my men will find you. Assassin's uniform or not, they'll recognize you," Haytham told Shay, urgency clear in his voice.

Shay nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "You’re right, but that leaves the question of what I'll bring to Achilles."

"You could tell him that you've found out the Grand Master of this miserable piece of rock is staying in Boston?" Haytham stopped a moment to look at Shay.

Shay thought about it for a moment. "It'll have to do, but only if Achilles doesn't know it already."

Haytham smiled softly. "It’ll have to do indeed. I can’t give you anything more. Get out of this city tonight. Do not show your face here ever again."

Shay got up from the ground, moving over to Haytham’s side. He didn't bother with words and instead left a soft kiss on Haytham’s cheek before he jumped off the building, leaving Boston just as the sun rose above the horizon.

\---

The next few years were very busy. Haytham figured out what happened to his sister while Shay continued his pursuit of the Pieces of Eden. Both desperately needed the other to keep them grounded while they were off on their tasks, and often had long talks about their different philosophies within the Templars and Assassins.

Somewhere along the lines, Haytham got infuriated with a native woman, and Shay had been nothing but encouraging of their relationship in an aggressive sort of way. He knew there would never be something between Haytham and himself, and he wanted Haytham to be happy with someone. They were on opposite sides of an ancient war, and he didn't see it changing.

Until Lisbon.

\---

"This is one big church." Shay activated his second sight and looked around, walking further inside of the church to see how he could get to the first civilization structure.

Haytham chuckled. "I wouldn't know, I haven't been to Lisbon before."

"Imagine gray walls in a T rising up so far you look like a speck of dust on the floor." Shay walked to the big doors, looking around to see if anyone was watching before quickly scaling the door, climbing onto a platform and finding a hole in the wall.

"Sound menacing," Haytham replied. "How is the search going?"

"There are alchemy signs of the four elements plastered over the walls in my second sight, I'm inspecting one of them now," Shay said and pushed his hidden blade in the hole. Nothing happened, so he twisted his blade until he heard a click and some sound from down below. He pulled his blade out and looked over the edge of the platform. "That worked."

Haytham hummed in response. "It’d be a shame if it didn't."

Shay chose not to reply to that as he ran off to get to the next platform, making his way around the church easily enough before making his way down to the ground. "I'm about to head inside.” He stood on the platform that he managed to unlock, little surprised it sank through the floor, leading Shay to a temple.

He walked down the hallway, looking around with awe. "I found it!"

The room had an altar in the middle, and Shay walked over the ravine to the center of the room while floorboards that seemed to rise from the depths of the cavern, as if it was detecting he was there.

Haytham was equally as excited. "What do you see?"

"There's a pillar rising from the ground, and I have to cross a bridge that's appearing out of the depths to guide me over. Part of the pillar is moving down now... Apples are round and golden, aren’t they?"

"Yes, every picture of an Apple of Eden is round and yellow or golden.”

"This... this artifact has many points and it's silver. It's floating," Shay said and reached out to take it, studying it from every side until it fell apart into dust under his hands and the ground under his feet started to shake. He stumbled back in surprise, and when the ground didn't stop shaking, he turned around and ran back the way it came.

"Haytham! I took it from its statue and it triggered an earthquake!" Shay made his way up to the church's grounds, stumbling to find his footing as his breathing sped up.

"What?"

"I am going to die! Everything's crumbling, the ground's splitting open under my feet." Shay sprinted to the exit of the church, not taking any time to adjust to the harsh light of the sun, looking all too cheery for the destruction happening around him.

"Run, Shay, get back to your ship."

"This is what happened in Haïti! Achilles send me here to die!" Shay ran through the streets of Lisbon, using all of his training to merely survive the crumbling city around him, dodging falling buildings and people.

"Focus on that later. Get out of there right now," Haytham ordered.

Shay didn't reply as he sprinted over a roof, barely holding his footing as he struggled to get on top of another building, his heart was pounding in his chest, trusting his instinct to guide him to the harbor. He needed to get out of there. He didn't want to find himself stuck under a building and going down with the city.

He saw the sea, running up a slope that shouldn't be there, forcing his shoulder through a window as he dove into the warm water, swimming the distance to the ship as fast as he could, forcing his shaking arms to climb the side of the vessel and roll onto the deck of the ship with some weak coughs and sputters.

A deckhand helped him to stand up. "How could God do this to them?" he asked as he looked out over the sea to the smoking sight of Lisbon.

"God had nothing to do with this," Shay said, his voice filled with penned up anger. He did that. He caused the destruction of a city by meddling with these precursor machines, machines they weren't equipped to understand, nor equipped to handle.

"Shay? Shay, what happened?” Haytham asked.

"I'm safe, I'm safe. I'm on my ship.” Shay’s breathing finally started to calm down.

He could hear Haytham’s relief. "Good." Haytham sounded as shaken as Shay felt.

"So many innocents died, Haytham." Shay moved away from the deckhand that helped him get up, walking to the back of the ship and gripping the rail too tight as he tried to keep his breathing under control. "I saw them die, stuck under buildings and crushed when rubble fell down on them. I caused their deaths, Haytham."

"I know, I know. Just breath, Shay. What are your next steps?" Haytham tried to sound like he was in control, but he was stuck on the other side of the continent chasing down leads on his sister in Turkey.

Shay took a few shaky breaths and forced his shoulders to relax. "I'm going to return to the Colonies and I'm going to confront Achilles. He needs to know what he did. What he made me do!"

“You will not," Haytham said.

"Why not, Haytham? He knew this would happen. He has set his sight on these precursor artifacts, and I know Achilles, he will not stop this... this mad grab for power. It's not for him to control because it cannot be controlled!" Shay replied. "He's only going to continue his pursuit, he's only going to get more innocents killed, and I cannot let that happen."

"All I'm asking is that you try to be calm and reasonable about this, Shay. You can't just demand he stops. He wouldn't listen to you."

Shay only got more ticked off by that notion. "He won't listen to reason, Haytham. If he's set his mind to something, he won't stop until he gets what he's after. Kind words won't change his perception."

"So will harsh words and harsh actions. You need to make him see why he can't continue with his current path, but I refuse to let you kill yourself over it!"

"I won't get killed," Shay said, the conviction in his voice hopefully enough to sway Haytham into stopping trying to change Shay's mind.

Haytham didn't sound convinced. "Shay, it's a miracle you haven't already been killed. Don't play with your luck."

"I make my own luck, Haytham, I don't need lectures by the likes of you," Shay spat.

Haytham mentally sighed and just stayed quiet instead.

Shay went below decks, not wanting to see the ruins of the city anymore, but that night and many more nights after that, it was all he could dream about.

\---

Haytham and Shay had many more discussions and arguments about how to approach Achilles with the news Shay found, but they reached an agreement.

Shay was to approach Achilles rationally, tell him about what happened in Lisbon, but if he refused to cooperate, Shay was to handle however he pleased.

Shay returned to the colonies after two uneventful months of working on the ship and receiving a crappy pay for it, even if he didn't need it.

The trip to the Homestead had Shay anxious with anticipation. "If he doesn't listen, Haytham, I'm going to steal the manuscript.”

It was late in Turkey, so Haytham only gave a disinterested hum.

"Sleep, Haytham, please. You do not need to stay awake on the accounts of me." Shay chuckled to hide how nervous this made him.

Haytham didn't reply to that, and it didn't assure Shay the slightest. He didn't want to face his mentor alone, but Haytham needed all the sleep he could get right now.

Shay dismounted the horse and walked to the door, opening it up and walking inside, walking up the stairs to find Achilles in his study. Shay knocked on the door with a furrowed brow, rehearsing the words to what he was going to say to Achilles.

He found Achilles at the fire, with Hope writing some documents at the desk.

The Mentor turned to him as soon as he let himself get known. "Shay! What a surprise, I didn't expect you back yet.”

Shay nodded. "I found the precursor sight, but it was one that caused destruction, not power. It triggered an earthquake and leveled Lisbon, just like what happened in Haïti."

Hope went to stand beside Achilles and furrowed her brow. "You must've handled it wrong, are you sure you did everything correctly?"

Shay balled his fists but tried to follow Haytham’s orders. "I am certain. These temples control the earth itself."

Achilles shook his head. "I agree with Miss Jensen, you must've triggered a safety mechanism."

Shay got up in Achilles’s space, but Hope pushed him back. "I watched thousands die because I took the artifact. I know what I did!"

"Shay calm down!" Hope ordered as she pushed Shay away from Achilles.

“No, you meddling with powers far beyond your control.” Shay pointed to Achilles, trying to get over to him but was stopped by Hope, who kept pushing him back. “You will kill more people if you continue this… this mad grab for power!”

“What the hell is going on here? Stop this.” Liam burst into the room, immediately putting himself between Shay and Achilles, pushing Shay back even more.

It was betrayal. Liam’s tie to the brotherhood was bigger than his loyalty towards Shay, even if Shay proved numerous times it was wrong what Achilles was doing.

Liam was big enough to force Shay out of the room, forcing Shay to calm down away from Achilles.

Liam shut Shay up every time Shay tried to explain what happened, telling Shay it was Achilles's decision and not for him to make.

Shay cursed out Achilles silently while he watched the flames of his campfire, poking it with a stick to keep himself calm.

"Good morning, how did it go with Achilles?" Haytham sounded exhausted, like he just woke up. Shay couldn't imagine the pristine man he'd met a few years ago with a bedhead, but the idea amused him somewhat.

"He refused to listen to reason," Shay scoffed. "He going to try again, saying I must've done something wrong to trigger the earthquake. I didn't! I know what I did, Haytham, there was nothing else for me to do if Achilles wanted me to bring the artifact back to the Colonies."

Haytham didn’t let Shay’s temper get to him. "You're stealing the Manuscript."

"I must stop Achilles from finding another temple, and this is the only way.” Shay kicked out the fire with some snow before getting up. It wasn't hard to go to the main building and sneak inside, nor was it hard to find Achilles's desk.

Shay listened for any sound that the Mentor could've heard him, but he heard nothing as he broke the lock on the drawer, taking out the manuscript and putting it in his coat.

He turned around to head back the way he came, only to be stopped by Achilles. "Achilles, I have to do this." There was lead in his shoes, the mere thought heartbreaking. It had to be done, for the sake of all the innocents that would die if he didn't.

Achilles didn't share that same thought. "You dare to betray your brothers? To betray me?”

"I have no choice. We don’t have the right to meddle with these precursor sites."

“The right? No, we have the responsibility,” Achilles replied, stepping to Shay.

“We are responsible for killing innocents and destroying cities. This… mad grab for power, it ends now.”

Achilles immediately accused Shay of trying to destroy everything the brotherhood tried to do, attacking him to make Shay stop.

Shay avoided Achilles's grab for the manuscript, but they broke a window while struggling for it.

Shay's only option was to jump out of the window when Liam and Hope mixed themselves into the fight. He made a mad dash for the exit of the homestead. If he could get off the grounds and shake his pursuers, he’d be safe. He could survive in the wilderness while making the trip to... Probably Boston was the closest city. He could find Templars there, explain what had happened.

"Talk to me, Shay, all I'm getting in this very anxious feeling that something's wrong,” Haytham said.

"I am very busy trying to escape the Homestead, I'll tell you when I'm safe." Shay sprinted through the tall grass and trees to try and escape the Assassins, making a dash for it when they found him.

He clearly wasn't skilled enough to escape, because Liam managed to block off the path he would've used to get off the Homestead, and instead forced Shay to run to the cliffs.

Shay looked down at the icy waters before looking at everyone gathered before him. Hope, Liam, Achilles, Kesegowasse, Chevalier. He found he couldn't turn back now, not when he made this decision, the decision to save innocent lives.

"We can still make this right, Shay! I'm sure the mentor…!" Hope began, but Shay cut her off.

"I cannot… I will not let this happen. All those souls lost, one more hardly matters," Shay yelled over the howling wind and the waves.

"I am sorry, Haytham." He sprinted to the edge of the cliff, jumping over the side just as he heard a gun go off, feeling the bullet bury in his side as he fell.

He could feel Haytham’s pain and sadness, but at least the Manuscript would be destroyed.

\---

Birch did not like how twitchy Haytham was. Certain things could've been avoided if Haytham had just paid attention, like that one time they were robbed.

One night it was particularly bad for no apparent reason. Haytham couldn't sit still for longer than a moment, pacing up and down the floor of their room.

"Haytham sit down." Birch scowled as he watched Haytham.

Haytham looked at Birch like his thoughts were far away. "Sorry, sir," he said and sat down at his desk, tapping his fingers on the desk with the same compulsion.

“What did I teach you about keeping calm?" Birch asked.

"Write it out, then burn the paper. I did that already, and yet I feel none the better," Haytham recited, like a mantra that was put in his head over and over. Birch had seen to it; he could not have Haytham forget any part of his training.

"Then what is keeping your mind occupied?" Birch put the quill down and looked at Haytham. If his pupil was so fed up with something and unable to calm down, there must be something wrong.

"My soulmate." Haytham refused to look at Birch, like the first few months of training when Birch had just been his father’s friend.

"Look at me when you're speaking to me, Haytham. I've taught you better." Birch used the distraction to observe Haytham beyond the obvious signs.

Haytham's clothes were ruffled, his hair haphazardly thrown in a ponytail, his boots had gone unpolished, and there were deep worry lines on Haytham's face.

Haytham turned to look at Birch. "Yes, sir." He tried to act as if he was calm but couldn’t keep up the façade he spent years training.

"What happened with your soulmate?" Birch had never met his, but he knew how devastating it would be if anything happened to her.

"He died," Haytham said bluntly, refusing to look away from Birch.

Birch was taken aback by this, but he masked it. "I am sorry to hear. How are you doing?"

Haytham refused to reply to Birch as a response. Instead, he got up and walked out of the room.

The boy never knew how to deal with his feelings.

\---

Shay knew he was alive. That was as far as his thoughts allowed him to venture. His muscles refused to cooperate. Someone lit his side on fire and forgot to put it out. A rock smashed his face. The pain indicated he lived, and that was enough.

It was a few weeks later when his body and mind finally allowed him to get up and walk around. His bullet wound didn't agree, but he didn’t tear any stitches by sitting up and walking. He shouldn't be standing yet, but he couldn't find himself to stay in bed longer. He needed to figure out where he was and why he was there.

Someone looked after him. They made sure the fire was always lit, he had enough blankets, and his bandages were changed daily, sometimes twice daily.

He looked out of the window. Underneath the window was a busy street, packed with people and redcoat soldiers. If he had to guess he would've guessed he was in New York.

It puzzled him. Who would've brought him all the way to New York? or if the water carried him all the way to New York, how hadn't he frozen to death? The current allowed it, but the temperature didn't.

It didn't take long for his hosts to come knocking at his door. Two lovely older folk, Cassidy and Barry Finnigan. Clearly soulmates, with how playful they treated each other. They explained what happened to him before going back downstairs again.

"Haytham?" Shay knew he couldn't have spoken to Haytham for however long it had been since his fall.

What followed was a yelp of surprise and a string of curses. "Shay?" Haytham asked once he stopped cursing.

"Yes, I'm alive. I've been shot and delirious this whole time. I only recently got my mind back.”

Haytham didn't stop cursing for a good moment. “Don’t ever, ever do something like that again.”

Shay wasn't planning to. He was glad Haytham cursed Shay for his stupidity, actually, since it meant the search for his sister hadn’t killed him.

There was a crash downstairs, followed by Cassidy cursing and her scream.

Shay put the cup down before he could take a sip, holding his side as he stumbled out of his room and down the stairs. His coordination wasn't the best, and his side was screaming at him to lay down, but he had no choice.

He found three guys and beating them up proved easy enough, he only needed to be aware of where the others were and how much his side could take.

Barry helped with throwing them outside since Shay couldn't possibly pick them up.

They gave him a new outfit and his weapons back, which Shay was grateful for. He did notice the Templar insignia on the strap for his air rifle, but he was only glad for it. The Templars were his best shot at stopping Achilles.

He walked outside and asked Haytham about it. "Haytham?"

“I'm still angry at you for being dead… and for making me fall off a roof and sprain my ankle."

Shay couldn't help but chuckle as he set in the chase of a gang member. "Sorry, did you know any Finnigan?"

"Yes, he was a Templar but got murdered by an Assassin. Why?"

"I met his parents.” Shay jumped on another roof, hot on the heels of the gang member he was chasing.

"General Monro told me they were good people."

"That was the Templar stationed in New York, right? As a redcoat?" Shay tackled the guy he was chasing, lifting him up so they looked each other in the eye.

"Yes.”

"A moment," Shay said before speaking out loud and threatening the guy into reveling what Shay wanted to know.

Shay tossed the man aside after he outlived his usefulness and made his way over to the headquarters. "The Assassins now own gangs," Shay bristled a moment later as he looked down on their headquarters.

Haytham sounded a lot less surprised. "It's a good way to control a city.”

Shay scoffed as he silently went to take out the headquarters, making sure not to get noticed as he did so. It wasn't hard, but he had to be mindful of his wound.

After he did, a man walked up to Shay. Shay naturally went for his gun, ready to put this man down if he posed a threat.

The man put his hands up to signal he meant no harm. “Be at ease, Master Cormac. The Finnigan’s were worried you might’ve taken things into your own hands. I'm general George Monro," he introduced himself to Shay.

"The Templar?" Shay asked, furrowing his brow.

Monro looked taken aback by this statement. "I am a Templar, yes. I was the one that saved your life by bringing you to the Finnigans."

"Thank you, sir, I owe you my life. I'm sure Haytham will appreciate it as well," Shay explained. "But I don't know you, and I'd like to see for myself that you are not as bad as some of the other redcoat landlords that control these areas."

Monro nodded. "You'd have to explain to me what your relationship is another time. But I take a different approach than my comrades."

It turns out Templars were just as Haytham told him they were, which was a relief. Haytham could, of course, have sold Shay a bunch of twisted reality.

\---

After Shay saved Christopher Gist form a hangman's noose and got back the Morrigan, they, Monro, and two other Templars sat down in a decent pub.

They all got a big pint and Monro turned to Shay. "How did you know I was a Templar?"

"Haytham mentioned you a few times before." Shay took a sip of his pint.

"What is your relationship with Master Kenway?" Monro asked.

"He's my soulmate."

Monro and the two other Templars widened their eyes and raised their eyebrows, looking among themselves to silently ask if any of them knew.

"Well then, how did you… end up an Assassin?" Gist asked.

"You tend to trust the friends that helped you out of a miserable situation more than the voice in your head that claims to be on the other side of the world," Shay explained.

"Wasn't Haytham that British fellow that got promoted to Grand Master and moved to the colonies?"

"He's currently not in the colonies, but yes," Shay explained.

"Grand Master Haytham Kenway has an Assassin in his head. He'll never hear the end of it," Gist laughed.

"Ex-Assassin, Gist. I want nothing to do with them anymore."

"Did he turn you?"

"No, my Mentor made me slaughter innocents and needs to be stopped. The Templars are my best chance to do that."

"We'll wholeheartedly support you, Master Cormac," General Monro said. "But you must first prove you're loyal and trustworthy."

"My life and my ship are at your command, General," Shay promised.

The conversation moved onto other topics after that, and Shay was content to listen to the men around him talk about uninteresting things.

The evening ended with them being thrown out because the pub closed, and Shay ended up carrying a jovially drunk Gist to Fort Arsenal. He had no idea where the man lived.

All in all a pleasant evening, aside from the fact that Gist snored.

\---

It was 1758 when Shay got to see Haytham again. He’d heard from Haytham that he got his sister back and was now on his way back to the Colonies.

Shay had noticed Haytham got quiet about halfway during the trip back to the Colonies, but he didn't let that bother him. He was busy enough coping with the loss of Monro, and the odds and ends of jobs he was tasked to do in the meantime, just as trying to finance and run an entire ocean operation from his cabin.

It came as a surprise to be called back home, and Gist informed him it was his official ceremony to be knighted a Templar. The damned man refused to let anything else slip and Shay couldn't feed him drunk. He needed Gist sober as a first mate, and he couldn't get information out of Gist when he wasn't drunk.

The trip to New York didn't last a week and once there Shay couldn't help but be aware of every detail and jump into a more alert state at every hint of an attack, nervous for his upcoming ceremony.

Gist tried to assure everything would be fine. It was just a formality. Shay was a Templar in everything but name already.

The ceremony was held in the evening. Only a candle and a fireplace provided warmth and light. Lee was present, much to Shay's surprise, but he couldn't dwell on it long as he stood at the head of the table.

He shouldn't be surprised that the Grand Master himself would conduct the ceremony, but it was a happy sight to see Haytham step out of the shadows and recite the words before walking around the table to put Monro's ring on Shay's finger.

Things were much easier after that, and the first thing Shay did was pull Haytham in a tight hug. They both needed it after what happened, even if Haytham wasn't much for physical touch.

Haytham hugged Shay back, and the tension in his shoulders loosened up a little. "It's good to see you again." He pulled away from Shay to look at him and how the last few years changed him.

Shay smiled. "You bastard. You didn't even tell me." He playfully shoved Haytham in faux annoyance.

Haytham chuckled. "I know, frankly it was Charles's idea. I'm sure the man has questions for you." He sat down at the head of the table, with Shay to his left.

Charles sat opposite of Shay. "You're the 'old friend' Master Kenway met in Boston.”

"Aye, that was me." Shay nodded, clenching his mug a little tighter.

"You were an Assassin back then," Charles continued.

"I was," Shay confirmed.

"Why were you busy kissing each other instead of killing each other?" Charles looked between Haytham and Shay.

Haytham stuttered in surprise and blushed a pretty shade of dark red Shay would like to see more often. He waved to Shay to explain why when the words escaped him.

"I was only there to see Haytham," Shay explained, trying and failing to hide his own blush.

"Soulmates? How on earth could you two be Soulmates?" Charles glanced between the two with a furrowed brow.

"Ask whoever decided we're Soulmates." Shay smiled in an attempt to hide his unease.

Charles scoffed. "Why did you become an Assassin with the Grand Master in your head.” He pointed to Haytham.

"They were the only place that would take me in because my... Friend was an Assassin, and the Templars on this continent were nonexistent," Shay explained. "I was knee-deep in bottles at that point, and I didn't want to face the end of a blade."

Charles nodded. "What made you decide we're the better choice in the end?"

Shay took a moment to consider how to put it. "One of the first tenants the Assassins live by is 'stay your blade from the flesh on an innocent', but I was sent on a mission that they knew would kill innocents.”

Charles stayed quiet as he thought it over. "Your sense of right and wrong is greater than your sense of loyalty.”

"Yes." Shay took another swig of the pint in front of him.

"It's admirable!" Gist pitched in. "And be glad, Charlie, he wouldn't be here if he was more loyal than just."

Charles's offended look only made Gist laugh.

Haytham had been quiet through it all, steadily drinking his first and then his second pint. His cheeks were rosy from the alcohol, and Shay knew it took very little for Haytham to get very drunk.

"How drunk are you?" Shay asked mentally.

"Feel terrible," Haytham replied with a soft groan.

"Excuse yourself and go to bed."

"Don't take orders from you," Haytham hissed, out loud without even knowing.

Shay ignored the stares from the others and got up. "You do if you can't even talk straight, come on." He pulled Haytham up with him.

Haytham tried to protest but clung to Shay to avoid falling over.

Shay turned to the people still seated at the table. "If you'll excuse us, I'm going to take Haytham to bed." He pulled Haytham out of the room.

He could hear Gist say: "I know they're soulmates, and yet I don't realize that makes them equal." The others agreed with him.

Shay closed the door before putting Haytham on the bed. "Can you get out of your own clothes?"

Haytham went to nod, but thought better halfway through. "Yes." He went to do just that, stripping out of the layers of clothes even if he was struggling.

Shay stripped down to his underwear and a shirt, making sure Haytham was figuring out how to get out of his clothes on his own. Shay climbed into the bed and put his dagger under his pillow. Just in case. He couldn't very well leave his hidden blades on, no matter how much he wanted it. It was rookie advice everyone getting a hidden blade got, and Shay quickly taught everything he knew about the hidden blade to Haytham once he’d heard the man acquired one.

Shay wasn’t surprised to see Haytham put a knife of his own under his own pillow, or the hidden blade being put on the nightstand. "Why haven't you completely removed the Assassin's logo from your blade?"

Haytham joined Shay under the sheets. "As a reminder of where those blades come from and why I'm carrying them." Haytham curled up against Shay's side.

Shay wrapped an arm around Haytham’s shoulder, keeping him close.

Haytham fell asleep not long after, the alcohol having sedated him enough to achieve something Shay knew didn't come easy to him.

Shay had a harder time falling asleep, twirling Monro's ring around his finger while he was lost in thought. Mostly about how he was finally pressed up against Haytham and there were no different loyalties between them to keep them apart.

He pulled Haytham closer as he fell asleep, hoping he could wake up next to his soulmate every day from then on out. He didn’t dream about Lisbon that night.


End file.
